Until the Bitter End
by tomhiddlest0ner
Summary: When a woman forces Marlene's hand and joins Joel and Tess in delivering their 'cargo', Joel thinks this might be the shittiest job he's ever taken so far. But company has a way of growing on you, and the hard-hearted man finds April Waters growing on him just as Ellie does. Joel/OFC.
1. Prologue

**A'N: This is my first fanfiction for TLoU. It's going to be a Joel/OFC story, but will progress slowly throughout the video game with a possible sequel where the game ends. It will include both story-line chapters and original chapters in-between. Please let me know your thoughts for the prologue/chapter one and let me know if I should continue. Thanks, and enjoy! **

* * *

><p><strong>.PROLOGUE.<strong>

"_Not_ a fucking chance, Marlene."

There's a stiff air in the tiny room, a dark-skinned woman drawing in a sharp breath at the cussing that came from the tiny woman across the room. Marlene, leader of the rebellion-crusade _the Fireflies_, was a considerably excellent leader. She had skill, class and most importantly, knew what was best for the greater good. That was what the Fireflies were all about, really, and while most calls the woman made were good, April Waters could _never _agree with the decision she was making right this second. Her gray eyes were focused on the injured woman, glaring down angrily as the silence only grew uncomfortable. Marlene's hand hovered over the wound site on her stomach as she glanced anxiously to their company in the room - first, to little Ellie, who was still clutching her hunting knife. Then, almost reluctantly, over to Tess and Joel.

April wasn't usually one to cuss, but in that moment, she could have spat a thousand terrible words at Marlene. She chewed the inside of her cheek to keep her mouth closed, tasting the foul blood running over her tongue. _Oops. _

"I don't like it any more than you do," Marlene said, after a moment. Tess scoffed. _What are we, fucking criminals? _Well, yes, but did it really count if you weren't caught? No one _knew _she and Joel were criminals. "But," the Fireflies leader continued, looking toward Ellie once again, "we don't have much of a choice. We can't spare the men, and I can't take her myself. Clearly."

Sighing, April swept a hand through her unruly curls. "Marlene, she's just a little kid-"

The auburn-haired teenager cleared her throat, shooting her oldest friend a pointed look. April had been something of a friend to Ellie's mother before she died - her request for _Marlene _to take care of Ellie was somewhat insulting, but April decided not to take offence - it was true, Marlene was the best person for the job. Ellie _was _a handful. With a roll over her eyes to the teen, the older woman looked back at Ellie's carer. "She's just fourteen. They're _strangers,_" she added, pointing over to Tess and Joel. The two had remained silent, but wore unimpressed expressions.

Marlene groaned. "What else can we do? She _needs _to get to that lab. It's just to the capitol building, there's Fireflies waiting. It's the best we have."

"Then I'm going with them."

Tess jumped to life suddenly, surprising everyone with a loud: "Fuck, no!" Joel hardly flinched, sending her a low, warning growl of her name. It was best to tread the situation carefully. "No, we're not taking you-"

"It's not your fucking decision!" April interjected, furious. Another cuss?! Ellie almost burst out laughing - April was the typical motherly type, warm eyes and warm hugs. You'd never guess she could take down such a creature as a clicker or a runner, but she was exceptionally fast and agile. Ellie had only seen her in action _once _when they were running from their district to join the Fireflies, and she'd almost _gawked _at the unexpected kills. "Listen to me," the brunette woman commanded, quieter though still stern in her tone. "There is no way in _Hell _I am lettin' that girl walk out of here with two strangers. No. I don't want any of your guns or supplies - shit, you don't even have to watch my back."

"I don't plan to," Tess snorted, and April narrowed her eyes. Silence fell over the room, Marlene with her fingers on her temples.

"April, I don't think it's a good idea-"

"Damn right it's not a good idea!"

"-_but _so long as you want to supply your own way there, I can't stop you." A smug expression crossed April's features, lips curving into a grin. Tess sighed heavily, but the ever-silent Joel kept his lips sealed. Perhaps he was indifferent - either way, he'd just have another bit of cargo to pretend not to hear. Marlene turned to Tess, giving her a once-over. "I'll take you to our camp, show you the weapons while I get patched up, but I don't want Ellie crossing to that bit of town. Joel can watch over her with April."

Suddenly: "I don't think that's the best idea."

April cocked an eyebrow. "So he _does _talk." He shot her a look, unimpressed.

With a look of reluctance, Tess stepped forward. "Just take them to the North tunnel. I'll meet you there," she said, and Joel gave a small sigh before glancing at the two women. "They're just cargo, Joel," she reminded him. April found the statement slightly crude, but understood... perhaps the fact that they were risking their lives for a couple of strangers could be eased by the fact that, in the end, she and Ellie _were just cargo._

Joel turned to Tess, furrowing his brow. "Don't be long," he commanded, before turning to April and Ellie. "And you two, _stay close._"


	2. The First to Fall

**CHAPTER ONE  
><strong>**THE FIRST TO FALL**

The sunshine felt welcoming on April's pale skin as they walked, the day spreading over the abandoned city and making it shine. She'd acquired a few minor wounds in their previous scuffles not a few hours earlier, guardsmen coming at them from all sides at one point before the men were replaced with infected as they crossed the city. She couldn't believe they'd escaped the area alive, let alone actually made it to the capitol building. It was impressive up close - April hadn't seen the city for years, and each visit and return made her fall in love with it a little more. She'd always been a country girl, so seeing nature take back the big cities was always astounding. She'd even seen wild deer running around the place, it was kind of amazing to her. Her expression was much like Ellie's, the girl's eyes wide as she took in everything. She'd barely had a second to _see _the cities as they were making their way to Marlene's headquarters.

Their feet scraped the ground, Tess and Joel up ahead while Ellie and April found a more comfortable pace. They weren't in a rush - everything was too pretty to merely walk past, they were both so childish in the way they had to look at _everything. _Joel found himself glancing back, furrowing his brow and scowling at the two girls. April should have known better - any time spent _outside _was too much time, guards or infected were always right around the corner. "Get a move on," he said gruffly, April making a face at Ellie, who tried (and failed) to stifle the little giggle that left her lips. Even Tess was slightly amused.

"Come on, Grinch, we're here now. Job's done."

Joel merely grunted in response, thick fingers wrapping around the faded brass doorknob. Pulling open the double doors, April could hear a noise of defeat leave his lips. Tess's mouth fell wide open before she cried out in protest, and at first, April had no idea what the hell was going on. She took the stairs twice at a time, lips parting in surprise as she saw it: two dead Fireflies, blood pooling around their bodies over the marble flooring. She had no words - the hope drained her body as she realized her responsibilities had shifted from Ellie's company on the journey, to Ellie's primary care-taker. It would be _her _who would have to take the girl across country to the lab, now, and honestly? She couldn't have been happier it was _her _and not some random Fireflies she'd never met.

Still, their deaths made the brunette woman feel uneasy. Ellie's expression was a mixture of shock and sickness, her skin a pale tone. "Don't look, Ellie," April murmured, giving the girl a gentle push to turn her away. Tess frantically searched the bodies. Joel watched her for a moment, her breathing heavy and panicked as her tiny hands flickered so quickly over the men, April only saw blurs. Eventually, Joel stepped forward, raising his hands in question.

"What are you doin', Tess?" he asked, and the woman didn't even look at him.

"Maybe they left a map! Or wrote down where the lab was."

"How far are we gonna take this?" Joel demanded, frowning deeply down at Tess.

"As far as it needs to go!" she cried shrilly, April wincing. There seemed to be nothing to give away where the lab was, which was bad - _April _sure as Hell didn't know. Licking her lips, she watched as Tess stood and stepped back, clearly upset. The woman suddenly whipped her head toward April and Ellie. "Where was this lab of theirs?" she demanded, and April shook her head solemnly.

"They never told us. Out west, somewhere, I think." A defeated noise left Tess's lips at the realization that lab wasn't _close _whatsoever.

Joel looked slightly _concerned, _narrowing his eyes at Tess. "What are you doin'? This is _not _us," he said slowly, Tess rearing on him with an angered look.

"What do you know about us?" she asked. "About me? Guess what, we're shitty people, Joel! It's been that way for a long time!"

"No, we are survivors!"

"This is our chance-"

"It is _over, _Tess!" His snappy scream left a silence in the air, April shifting uncomfortably as she reached for Ellie protectively. "Now we tried," he continued, quieter now. "Let's just go home."

The woman before him didn't speak for a moment - there seemed to be a billion things running through Tess's mind, and April wondered what they were, but said nothing. She wondered if perhaps there was something between the two of them - were they romantically involved? There seemed to be a lot of tension between them, and April didn't see _lovers _as a likely title for the two of them. Perhaps _partners _was merely as far as it stretched.

Tess swallowed, stepping away from Joel as she spoke. "I'm - I'm not goin' anywhere," she said, voice barely audible. Joel frowned at her. "This is my last stop."

"What?"

"Our luck had to run out sooner or later."

Another round of silence, before Ellie spoke. "Holy shit. She's infected."

Swallowing, April watched the scene unfold. How unfair, that a woman merely working to survive wouldn't see another day - she hated the world they lived in, how _easy _it was to see people go... to see them die. Ellie glanced at April before reaching for the older woman's hand, the elder giving a comforting squeeze. She couldn't imagine what she'd do, finding a bite or a scratch on her own porcelain skin. She'd panic, that was for sure - but would she let herself turn? She couldn't possible settle on an answer, deciding that either fate was as bad as the other. Tess rounded on the two women, darting over and grabbing Ellie's arm, yanking up her shirt sleeve and dragging the teen toward Joel. April stiffened at the rough handling, but said nothing, merely stepping closer to observe.

"This is three weeks, Joel. I was bitten an hour ago and it's already worse." Joel looked unconvinced, but the woman continued. "You've got to get this girl to Tommy's. He used to run with this crew, he'll know where the lab is!"

"No, no, no - I'm not doin' that!"

"_Yes, _you are! Look - there's enough here that you have to feel _some sort _of obligation to me. _Get this girl _to Tommy's, Joel."

He parted his lips to reply again, but was cut off by the sounds of car doors slamming. April's heart leaped into her throat as she grabbed Ellie, backing up toward the large double doors that would no doubt begin the journey through the building to the exit on the other side. Tess and Joel bickered for another moment, but it seemed the woman would be staying... chewing the inside of her cheek again, April watched as she and Joel said their goodbyes - goodbyes that weren't emotional enough for her to feel comfortable with. Weren't they supposed to hug, tell each other they'd miss one another? It was strange to April that there were just mere words exchanged before Joel turned around, sending April a narrow-eyed look before taking the lead.

**XX XX XX XX XX**

"I can't believe we fucking did that!" Ellie's voice was shrill with disbelieve as Joel locked the doors behind them, the teenager pacing around the hall anxiously.

"Ellie," April warned, watching as Joel slowly let out a breath. He clearly was not in the mood to discuss the inescapable passing of his friend, and April was sure as Hell not going to allow Ellie to prod wounds that did _not _need prodding. She shot the younger girl a look that told her to keep her mouth closed, gray eyes following the male as he turned and decided to make his way up the stairs.

"We just left her to die!"

At the same time, both Joel and April let out cries of frustration.

"Ellie!"

"_Stop!_"

The auburn-haired girl looked over to Joel before glancing at April, licking her lips nervously. She hadn't meant to upset anyone, she was just so bewildered... so shocked with what they'd done. She couldn't quite comprehend the weight that was on Joel's shoulders in those moments, but April understood the loss of a partner. While it was strictly a business relationship, it still hurt - and he was _allowed _to hurt. You didn't spent such a huge amount of time with someone without developing some sort of emotional attachment, as platonic as it may be. April wanted to comfort him, but decided against it.

Joel gritted his teeth, looking back at the two girls. "We have to move," he said pointedly, and the two jogged after him, fearful for their lives.

The thought of what was to come was terrifying - soldiers, and she'd bet that a tonne of them were flooding through the doors in that moment. As they reached the second floor, the gunshots began. She couldn't count how many bullets must have flown, but eventually, Tess cried out in defeat and the soldiers began to move forward. Their pounding on the doors was just as loud as the gunshots that had marked Tess's downfall, and it was giving April a headache - but _now _wasn't the time for a heat-pack and some Asprin, not that she'd had those privileges in a long time.

No... now was the time for a _battle. _She hadn't been in a shoot-out in quite some time, and the thought worried her - and Ellie... April didn't exactly want the teen to see what she was about to do, but she supposed it was inevitable. Eventually, she'd have to do some pretty nasty things, and Ellie would only witness the woman's actions getting worse as they went along. Drawing in a breath, the soldier's voices surrounded them and echoed all throughout the hall, the first silhouettes of the men advancing before them.

Crouching beneath the cover of a flipped dinner table, the three of them readied themselves to fight. Joel held a shotgun he'd taken from a rotting corpse a few feet behind them, and April dug in her bag for a firearm of sorts. Knives and handguns were holstered all over her jeans, but she felt the need for something a little more powerful, gripping the barrel of the .22 caliber rifle that stuck out of her bulging pack, courtesy of Marlene. She'd had the gun a while, and thought she owned a few smaller ones, the rifle would always feel comfortable in her hands. That thought, though, made her uneasy... just ten years ago, April Waters would have never been caught dead with a gun.

She supposed time had a tenancy to change things, though. Ten years ago, she wouldn't have even been able to kill a clicker or a runner.

April had always hated the way events could change people like that - and then she'd lived it, understood what it was like to have something change the way you see the world... she'd always been a positive woman, always loved the people around her and been kind to others. Now? She felt like she couldn't trust many people, and though it was a selfish thing to think, she thought that - if it came down to it - she'd protect herself and Ellie over the burly man taking the stairs before her.

She hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.

Shoving a few more rounds into the rifle, April squinted one eye and quickly tested the scope - a basic addition to her gun, but helpful nonetheless. She would have liked something a little more advanced, though. She adjusted the zoom slightly, not fussy with it. It wasn't like April had all the time in the world - the first shot was fired by a solider, the bullet whizzing between she and Joel's heads. Ellie was tiny, the girls auburn hair barely visible over the edge of the table. Shifting so as to get comfortable to hold the large gun in hand, April lined up her first shot.

_Bang! _

The bullet found the solider in the right shoulder, the man grunting in surprise and (probably) pain. She cussed. A little practice now and then clearly would not go astray. Once again, she lined up the shot, this time shooting the gunman in then head. She was glad Ellie wasn't looking at the gore - in seconds, she could see blood pooling out from beneath the tipped buffet table the man had been hiding behind. April pretended not to notice, instead lining up her next shot. Joel's men were dropping twice as fast as hers, April finding it quite shocking how quickly he was able to shoot them down - real people... with lives much like their own, she guessed.

_Don't think about it, April. Just focus._

She drew in a breath, shooting the last of the first round of soldiers down. Quickly, the tiny woman rushed over, picking ammunition and handguns from their pockets. There wasn't much they had that was useful to her, though, and she quickly moved on with Ellie behind her, Joel directing their route to safety. Or... less soldiers. _Safety _didn't exist, not even in the quarantine zones. If it wasn't the infected trying to get at you, there was surely another human plotting something. April had been on both sides of that fence, deciding to ignore that thought as they pressed on through the capitol building.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Ellie asked, Joel chewing on his lip.

"Through this hall," he murmured as they entered a new room, the man crouching as he approached a couch to hide behind. "Stay down, I don't know how many more there are."

April shifted beside him, stealing a glance at the hardened features of the man. Scars adorned his skin, old and new alike, though they weren't unusual anymore. She, too, had pink, puckered wounds all over her body - she was sure she'd caught Joel staring at the scar that ran from beneath her right earlobe to her collarbone, but April didn't mention it. She stared at it, too, whenever she passed a mirror. It was hard not to. "I count five," she said quietly, Joel's eyes following hers to find the pacing soldiers. "Wait here," she instructed, darting across the room.

Her slender fingers found a rough brick, the woman grabbing the item and launching it as hard as she could. A _crash _erupted through the silence, and she could hear the soldiers question the source of the noise. A satisfied look crossed her face as the five of them began to cross the room, heading to where she'd thrown the brick. Returning to Joel, she nodded. "I got them all grouped together, might be a little easier to sneak into that room." She could have sworn that she saw an impressed look flicker over his features for just a second, but didn't linger on it - she didn't see them ever becoming friends, especially not after Tess's death. Ellie was the mission, and after Ellie was delivered to the Fireflies, she guessed the two of them would go their separate ways.

Drawing in a breath, the woman crossed the room and entered a small hallway that lead to the bigger hall. It was dimly lit, providing cover for them to take the men out without being seen too clearly. "How are we gonna do this?" April asked, looking to Joel. He was quiet a moment, considering their options, April watching the soldiers like a hawk.

One spoke before the rest, and she was thankful she couldn't see their faces due to the protective armor they wore. It clearly didn't help much, though. "Nothing here," was his statement as he kicked at the shattered brick. "Must have just been a rat or somethin'. Keep looking around, Trevor and Adam - head into that other room down there."

_Shit._

April watched as the five men split up, three heading in different directions in the large hall. The other two split up by a few feet, spreading out to enter their hallway from different sides. "You take one, I'll take the other," Joel whispered, fingers closing around the handle of a knife. He pulled it from his belt, nodding at her before heading over to the closest item that would provide a little cover for him. April gave Ellie a little push, telling her to turn around - once again, she didn't want Ellie to see her kill someone in such a brutal way. Nevertheless, she crept across to a table and hid behind it, occasionally peeking out to see where the soldier was.

Slowly, he made his way over to her, making sure to check behind each and every possible hiding place. The minute he paused to check in front of her table, the tiny woman sprung up and caught the man in a death grip. Lowering the struggling man and herself to the floor, she held on as tightly as she could, blocking his airway despite his fingers clawing at her face. One hand gripped her hair, but it wasn't long until the man breathed his last breath - he went limp in her arms, and when she looked up to check on Ellie, the teen was looking at her with wide eyes.

How strange, to see the closest thing to a mother she'd ever have, murder a man. Not that it was in cold blood.

Joel tugged his knife from the temple of the limp body in his own arms, wiping it on the soldier's clothes before returning to Ellie and April. Once again, April found the rifle in her hands, eye pressed to the scope as she lined up her shots. One by one, the remaining three soldiers fell at the hands of she and Joel. She had to admit, they made a good team when it came to killing folks. She stood up.

"Right. There's the exit, then," April said, furrowing her brow. "Look around, loot the bodies - there might be something useful. But hurry."

She had no doubt there would be more men coming for them soon enough, especially after a good dozen of them weren't returning. The thought made her uneasy, but she did what she had to, finding ammo but otherwise nothing else useful on the bodies of the soldiers. Once again, the trio found themselves bathing in the golden sunlight as they left the capitol building. How wonderful it felt on Ellie's skin! It might have been silly to say, but Ellie was sure the sun shone brighter on the outside of the QZ. It felt warmer, felt more... like home _should _feel.

Joel glanced around, planning their next move. It looked like he was stuck with the two girls for now, but as soon as he palmed them off to Tommy, he was gone.

Dark eyes flickered to the entrance of the subway, and the deal was sealed by the sound of approaching tires. "Down those stairs, keep your head down. Let's go."


End file.
